


If We Go Down, Then We Go Down Together

by Metal_Chocobo



Category: Women's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Gen, Minnesota Whitecaps, Sky Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-03 14:35:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14571090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: Before anyone could be ordered to attempt retrieving Noora’s booty, which would only cause more needless deaths, she saluted the crew and stepped off the plank into the sky.





	If We Go Down, Then We Go Down Together

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much to [exmanhater](http://archiveofourown.org/users/exmanhater) for the beta. She's why a large chunk of this fic was written and solved a myriad of problems.

“If I were captain then this would be a fine mutiny,” Noora mused as she looked at the rest of the crew from the end of a plank.

“Well, you’re not captain, lieutenant, I am,” Captain Mustonen snarled as he held a cloth to his still bleeding lip, “and it is within my purview to punish you as I see fit.”

“You know, a competent captain would have me flogged or possibly keelhauled for insubordination. That’s only if this captain wanted to draw attention to the fact his navigation officer hit him for flying the ship too low and nearly ripping the hull open on a mountain range,” Noora said. She shrugged as if it were a hypothetical situation and not the events of the last hour.

While her eyes flitted around from one crewmate to the next—none save Jenni, the ship’s quartermaster, were willing to meet her eyes—she refused to look down. The last thing she wanted was to give this pompous ass the satisfaction of seeing fear creep into her eyes at the visual of only a few inches of wood keeping her from a 20,000 foot drop. Noora had always heard that a dishonorable discharge from the Finnish navy was the worst thing that could happen to her career, but she hadn’t realized that meant being physically tossed off the ship mid air if it happened during a tour of duty.

“That’s it! Get off my ship!” Captain Mustonen howled, unsheathing his sword. Despite waving it around, he didn’t actually venture any closer to Noora to knock her off the plank. It was certainly windy out here away from the ship’s guardrails and someone with a high center of gravity could easily fall overboard.

“Jenni, a favor,” Noora called to her friend. “When you return to Helsinki, give my love and regrets to Mira.”

“Aye,” Jenni agreed, meeting her gaze one last time.

“You know, Captain, you’re going to really regret making me walk the plank.”

“Oh, why is that?”

“Because I took back all my navigation charts!” Noora shouted, holding up her satchel. He spluttered in a rage.

In the time between striking her commanding officer, the kangaroo court, and being backed onto this plank of wood, she had snuck into the captain’s cabin and swiped all the logs. Considering the fact she had made most of the notations on these charts, Noora felt these maps were more hers than anyone else’s. As for no one noticing her precious cargo, well, until she had been shoved off the deck none of the crew had thought the captain would go through with this execution.

Before anyone could be ordered to attempt retrieving Noora’s booty, which would only cause more needless deaths, she saluted the crew and stepped off the plank into the sky. It was an elegant fuck you to her former captain and a mistake. Not that Noora regretted her parting gift to Mustonen, no it was the fact she had stepped off the plank with her satchel in hand. When she had planned surviving her execution, as drunken sailors often do when there is a craven captain at the helm, she always went overboard with her hands free and with a back flip. Not only was it cooler looking, but it would have given Noora an extra second to fumble for her grappling hook and shoot it into the ship’s keel before she fell out of range to her death.

It turned out she needed that extra second.

With the ship out of range and her grappling hook still attached to her belt, Noora realized it was a lost cause. She was ambitious, short tempered, foul mouthed, and a realist. If the ship was out of reach, it was out of reach and there was nothing she could do. She was going to die. Since she wasn’t the type of person to dwell on her failures, Noora rolled over to look down as she plummeted toward the earth. She’d prefer to face death head on, rather than let it hit her from behind.

She had a unique view of the world as it rapidly came into focus. It was an exciting experience; save for the fact she knew this would have an unhappy ending. She was falling absurdly fast, but she noticed that after flipping over, her great coat billowed up behind her, catching the wind. It was slowing her descent, but Noora had a feeling the difference in velocity would be inconsequential. She regretted not stealing the captain’s silk sheets for a makeshift parachute instead of taking her navigation charts.

Just as she could start making out on the buildings below her—she’d been discharged near a town with a cathedral, not that Mustonen had the faintest idea about that, and the locals had definitely invested in making a spectacular church—when something slammed into her side. At first she thought she’d been shot or hit by a falcon; nothing else would be in the skies. Then something painfully dug into her arm and belly.

“Grab onto me. I’m going to drop you otherwise!” a woman shouted in her ear, though most of the volume was ripped away by the wind.

Noora latched onto one hand and twisted her head around to see if there was anything better than a hand to grab. She had been rescued by a hang glider and Noora happily grabbed onto the crossbar, which unfortunately had an adverse affect on the craft’s stability. There were a few tense moments before her rescuer got things under control.

“Next time, grab onto me before reaching for the control bar!” she shouted. She reached up and shook one of the harness straps across her chest that left her hanging from the keel of the glider. “That way you won’t potentially send us into a tailspin.”

“I’ll keep that in mind!” Noora shouted back. “Thanks for the rescue!”

“No problem! Our crew couldn’t stand to watch you fall, so the Captain sent me out for a pick up.”

“And what, if you don’t like me either, you’ll toss me overboard too?”

“Never,” she grinned. “Our crew doesn’t believe in making anyone walk the plank. Ever. If nothing else, we’ll give you a safe ride to landfall.”

With that she slowly started turning the hang glider in a giant arc until they were flying toward her source direction. After passing through a cloud that left them both dripping wet Noora spotted a ship. It was still a fair distance from them, but positioned low enough that her rescuer could guide them onto the deck if she were a competent hang glider. Considering the fact she had pulled off a daring rescue, that spoke enough to her experience. 

As they neared she quickly realized the ship was smaller and simpler than the one she had so recently served aboard. However, that did not mean it wasn’t well cared for. For example, the deck felt reassuringly solid when her feet first clattered aboard. Noora let go of the control bar and barrel rolled to use up the last of her momentum. The hang glider came to a rest a dozen feet ahead of her on a lower deck. Several members of the crew quickly came to assist their, while the rest surrounded Noora. No one appeared openly hostile to her, nor were any weapons brandished, though that could easily change considering the number of sabers she saw attached to various waists. She was an astute fighter, with both fist and falchion, but Noora doubted even she could take on this many at once. She’d have to resort to diplomacy. Great.

“Welcome to _The Whitecaps_ ,” a woman in a tricorn hat greeted her. “I am Julie Chu, captain of this vessel.”

“Lieutenant Noora Räty, nav—former navigation officer of the _Sumi Roar_ ,” Noora replied. “I suppose that’s former lieutenant as well now.”

“It happens to the best of us,” a woman to Noora’s right said.

“Like that was ever you,” the woman next to her laughed. Noora did a double take when she realized the pair, who had quickly started shoving each other, had the same face. It was a vaguely familiar face and she couldn’t place it, though from their accents, she doubted she had ever served with them.

“Joce, Monique, knock it off, before I order you two back up into the rigging,” an older woman growled. The pair quickly chorused an apology of ‘sorry Winnie’ before Captain Chu drew Noora’s attention again.

“When we saw you falling I sent my gunner’s mate, Hannah, to catch you,” Captain Chu continued. “Our ship has a general policy against walking the plank. No offense was meant by our interference.”

“The interference was much appreciated. I was in sore need of a rescue.”

“Excellent. You have safe passage to our next port. You will have to earn your board, or you can join our crew. That would give you an equal share in the work and the reward, though from the frogging on that coat you may not remember how.”

“I assure you, Captain, I may have a lieutenant’s stripes, but the arms under this coat are muscled, these hands are calloused, and I remember quite well what it is like to steer a ship through raging cumulonimbus clouds with a lightning rod of a compass in one hand and nary a star in the sky.”

“I stand corrected.” Captain Chu nodded at Hannah. “Find our guest a place to kip in the mess deck. Then I want you to get me Kendall, your return kicked out some of the railing and I want that repaired.”

“Aye, Captain.” Hannah saluted then jerked her head toward a lower deck before walking away. Obviously Noora was to follow. Once they were below deck Hannah repeatedly glanced back at Noora and started chattering. “Gee, I’m delighted I caught you—not simply because we wouldn’t want anyone to fall to their death, but also because you’re a navigator—that was a lucky break.”

“Yes.”

“We lost our last sailing master a month ago and while Captain Julie and Winnie, our quartermaster, have been managing, we could really use another one.”

“What happened to your last master?”

“Rigsby took a job with a more legitimate ship, one working for a major trading company.”

Noora nodded and filed this information away with the rest of her observations about the ship. Everything seemed functional and well cared for, though her eyes caught on many patches throughout the ship. It seemed like _The Whitecaps_ had been through some hard time, but her crew was doing their best to take care of her. It was definitely a much smaller crew than her last ship. Based on what she had seen so far, the ship couldn’t house more than forty people—roughly a third of the _Sumi Roar’s_ complement—and they appeared to have only half that number aboard. This crew seemed much happier than her last and more familiar with each other, though that may have cost them some discipline. However, over the years Noora had noticed that while discipline and obedience were important, creative thinking and inventive ruses had saved her bacon more than once. 

She also had a feeling that Captain Chu would listen to reason instead of sticking to a course that would drive the ship to ruin. She’d gladly steer this ship to safe harbor, but she knew she wanted to talk to the captain in private before deciding if she wanted to sign on with this crew. After nearly a decade in the service hunting down pirates, Noora wasn’t ready to simply throw away her career serving on one of their vessels. However, a merchant ship or privateers with the right letter of mark was a different matter entirely. Depending on the crew, she could still go home.

Noora stored her coat and the lesser maps in her newly assigned footlocker, which already held a hammock for her sleeping accommodations. She slipped the most valuable of her sky charts into her shirt while Hannah had her back turned. As much as she liked the woman, trust had to be earned.

By the time they returned to the deck, with Carpenter Kendall in tow, _The Whitecaps_ was already set on a new heading. She couldn’t say for certain without charting things out, but it seemed like they were going in a course perpendicular to that of the _Sumi Roar_. Perhaps that was unintentional, but she had a feeling that this little ship wanted to put as much distance between them as they could without drawing any sort of attention. After all, they had just averted an uncalled for execution.

Hannah and Kendall headed straight for the damaged railing while Noora scanned the decks. Most of the crew was busy working to keep a sky ship in functioning order. It was so typical to her that she soon found her eyes skipping over them as she sought out the captain. Eventually, she spotted Captain Chu headed into her quarters at the back of the ship.

“Captain Chu, I’d appreciate a word,” Noora said after knocking on the door and opening it. Inside she found Captain Chu leaning on her desk.

“Ah, Noora, come in,” Captain Chu greeted her. “We’re a fairly informal ship here compared to what you’re used to and I imagine that will take a little time acclimatizing to these differences, but I can guarantee you’ll be happier here.”

“Captain—”

“Call me Julie, it’s my name after all.”

“What is the nature of your crew?”

“Playful, and a little mischievous at times, but you’ll never find a more loyal bunch,” Julie answered promptly. She was grinning, which told Noora she knew exactly what she had really been asking, but instead chose to play dumb.

“Are you pirates?” Noora snapped.

“We prefer to think of ourselves as adventurers. Explorers. Even righters of wrong on occasion.” Julie frowned and stared down at the chart pinned to her desk. “I used to be part of my government’s navy as well. I was a captain, on track to be an admiral, once.”

“What happened?”

“I followed my former captain, the woman who first made me love the sea, into a righteous fight against the tyranny built into our own military and we lost. Cammi was branded a traitor and executed while I was forced out.”

“Did they make her walk the plank?” Noora asked, remembering this crew’s predilection to foil such methods.

“No, but I was as part of my dishonorable discharge. I suspect you underwent similar circumstances from the sound of things.” Julie smiled, but it was only a ghost of the previous ones. “A old friend of mine from an allied nation saved my life and I wish she had been able to stay with me, but she wouldn’t leave her navy, nor could I join it. Instead, she introduced me to _The Whitecaps_. I’ve been with this crew ever since.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“There isn’t a single person on this ship who intentionally set out to be a pirate,” Julie said. “Not even the rough and tumble Lamoureux twins, who joined up after a corrupt governor shut down the port their family had worked at for generations because it wasn’t considered profitable enough. My point is that we didn’t choose this life—it chose us.”

“Is that how you’re going to get me to sign your articles, by convincing me piracy chose me?” Noora scoffed. “You’re going to have to do better than that, I’m career navy.”

“I’m trying to explain what this ship is about! If you don’t understand the basics, you could never fit in on this crew!” Julie shook her head. “We would never force a person to join or trap them into staying, they wouldn’t be loyal. Even more importantly, they wouldn’t be family. At the heart of things, that’s what we are.”

“Family.”

“Yes.”

Noora stared at her, looking for the trick. However, she couldn’t detect any. Julie just seemed honest and tired. There was something about this ship’s captain that almost made her feel guilty for being suspicious, which had to be the most suspicious thing about this situation. She liked Julie and wondered if she could take her at her word. If she were anything other than a pirate captain, Noora would already be signing onto the crew.

“The one rule I added to our ship’s code when I assumed captaincy was to outlaw walking the plank. It had never been used much on _The Whitecaps_ , but I never wanted to see it employed again. It an ultimate betrayal to force some off the ship like that, especially since we consider ourselves family,” Julie explain. “We’re one unit. That’s why you have to understand that on _The Whitecaps_ , if we go down, then we go down together.”

“I cannot sign onto your crew, even if you make it sound attractive; it would break the oaths I already swore to the Finnish navy,” Noora said. “However, I will guide this ship safely to portage if you so wish.”

“That’s all I could ask for,” Julie replied. However, from the look on her face Noora had a feeling that she just agreed to more than she bargained for.

With Noora’s assistance _The Whitecaps_ arrived safely at a pirate friendly port two weeks later. It was an uneventful trip, with the ship skirting past several storms and a Scandinavian Cooperative checkpoint—which was established and run by the Swedes, which the Finns loved flouting at every opportunity. Perhaps a little more activity would have made the trip more fun, but since Noora wanted to get off this ship and back to her regular life as soon as possible, she didn’t complain. Besides, nearly getting into repeated fist fights with the twins after they realized she didn’t like being pushed around more than filled up her free time; especially when it landed the three of them with extra chores to work off their pent up energy.

Upon docking Noora was the first off the ship. The solid unmoving boards felt a little odd beneath her feet after months in the sky or on the sea, but her legs held her up steadily enough. Hannah, Kendall, and the other younger members of the crew were right behind her, though their interests ashore were different from hers. Still, Noora had become fast friends with Kendall and especially Hannah in her time aboard _The Whitecaps_. They were willing to put off their shore leave mischief until after she found safe passage home. 

“Are you hoping for a Finnish ship or simply a reliable one?” Kendall asked. “Because if the later is alright, I highly suggest _The Northeastern_ , which is docked here right now and scheduled to head north.”

“Something like _The Kiekko Vantaa_ might be the better choice, as domestic ships are less scrutinized, but I’m too familiar with that crew to safely book passage with them,” Noora said. “Can you vouch for _The Northeastern_?”

“Aye. I served on _The Northeastern_ for four years before joining the navy. She’s a good ship with an excellent crew.”

“Do you have any suggestions, Hannah?”

“Other than _The Whitecaps_ , all I can suggest is _The Maroon and Gold_. Best ship you could ever sail on, but she generally sticks to different skies,” Hannah said, shrugging. “Why don’t we check with the port authority to see who is currently docked? Worst comes to worst, you’re either stuck here for a few days or weeks. At least, if you don’t choose to sign on with us.”

“You should do that, Noora,” Kendall agreed, thumping Noora’s shoulder. “We like you well enough.”

“Thanks, but I highly doubt I’ll take you up on that offer,” Noora laughed. 

They slowly strolled toward the Portmaster’s offices at the far end of the docks. They passed quite a few fine ships and taverns, not to mention a bustling crowd, but Noora ignored all of it. There was a fine watering hole back home and a very pretty woman waiting for her, who she knew would take her in no matter what charges were laid against her. She’d probably still love her even if Noora did become a pirate.

“Holy shit, isn’t that your face?” Hannah exclaimed suddenly.

Noora followed Hannah’s pointed finger to find her face printed on the front of a newspaper. It was a photo from her service file blown up to ghastly proportions. Her hair, pulled up into a bun as per regulations, was roughly the size of the masthead print. Next to it the headline proclaimed her a traitor, a sky pirate executed after attempting a mutiny. With these charges against her already out to the public, there was no way to convince the navy they were untrue. The government would rather turn a blind eye than admit to the people a lieutenant had been wrongfully convicted; it wouldn’t have made the papers if it wasn’t already big news.

Noora walked off with the paper, much to the paperboy’s vexation. She skimmed the article and it confirmed her worst fears instilled by the headline. She’d been labeled a traitor post mortem, which meant that not only would her death benefits be cancelled, but her friends and family would be interrogated about her actions and any potential valuables they might be hiding. After all, all pirate possessions were surrendered to the state.

“Hey, what was that all about?” Hannah demanded. “You made me pay for that paper for no reason!”

“Where are we going?” Kendall asked.

However, Noora answered neither of them. As soon as they reached _The Whitecaps_ she charged up the gangplank then raced to the captain’s quarters with Hannah and Kendall hot on her heels. The three of them burst into the cabin, upsetting Julie just as she sipped her tea, which caused her to drop her cup, sending tea everywhere. Winnie, who was in the quarters with her, was also startled by the interruption, but managed to hang onto her tea without spilling.

“There had better be a bloody good reason for your impertinence,” Winnie growled. She set her tea down as her other hand traveled to the knife on her belt. “The Captain may be too kind hearted to punish you for this sort of behavior, but I’m not.”

“My apologies,” Noora muttered, not sounding genuine in the slightest. She slammed the newspaper down on Julie’s desk. “Look at this!”

“What is it?” Julie asked, drawing near. “Do either of you know what’s got her so riled up?”

“No, Captain,” Hannah said. Kendall shook her head in agreement. “She took one look at that paper and raced back here.”

“Look right here, I’ve not only been named a pirate and a traitor, but the pompous incompetent ass who had me summarily executed is getting a commendation for doing so!” Noora shouted. “I saved the ship and he not only tried to kill me, but is destroying my reputation!”

“That’s the navy for you,” Winnie sighed. “Any navy, really.”

“I’ll be hanged without trial if I even try to go home!” Noora slammed her hands on the desk. “I want vengeance! I’m the best navigator in Finland, arguably even the world, and I am loyal to a fault until someone stabs me in the back. Help me ruin Pasi Mustonen and I will serve this ship faithfully forevermore.”

Julie exchanged a glance with Winnie, while Hannah and Kendall simply seemed stunned. Clearly, none of them had expected this sudden change in Noora’s disposition. Julie was silent for a moment, then nodded to herself. She pulled a small packet of papers encased in leather out of a desk drawer and set it on the newspaper. After unwrapping the leather bindings, she gently flipped through the loose papers until reaching a half filled page of signatures.

“This is the articles of agreement for _The Whitecaps_ ,” Julie said. “Our pirates’ code, if you will. They are the laws of our ship and all crewmembers follow them. You’re welcome to read through the bylaws before signing, but if you are to join our crew or receive our help for your revenge, you must sign.”

“Then I shall sign,” Noora agreed. She accepted a quill and carefully wrote her full name, Noora Helena Räty, on the next available line. She would have gladly signed in blood, but Julie didn’t actually require quite that level of dedication from her crew.

“Welcome aboard, Noora,” Julie grinned, shaking Noora’s hand once she had finished. “We’re delighted to have a sailing master again.”

 _The Whitecaps_ spent three days at port. At first Noora was more than ready to spend the time plotting her revenge, but Julie ordered her off the ship to celebrate with the others. Ultimately, she was glad of the orders. She had a fantastic time carousing with her shipmates, got roaring drunk, and got into a fistfight. Possibly several. Noora wasn’t certain on the exact number, as she remembered fighting in a tavern, on the docks, and both with and against the twins. By the time the crew made it back to the ship they were in a sorry state, which left Julie clicking her tongue at them, but Noora knew these ladies had her back.

Considering the nature of their ship and mission, _The Whitecaps_ had to avoid discovery while entering Helsinki’s port. So, they lowered their colors and paid the traditional fees to avoid close scrutiny from the port authority. Noora hopped off the ship the moment they had safely docked. Technically, Julie had given the order for all hands to stay on the ship, to keep anyone from giving away the plan, but Noora felt this was worth disobeying orders. After all, they were here for her revenge, but this errand was even more important than that.

She stuck to the side roads and kept her head down whenever she passed watch patrols as she traversed the city. No one looked at her twice. Eventually she reached her destination, a small tavern midway between the university and the naval academy. She hadn’t spent much time at Riikka’s in years, but the tavern held significant sentimental value to her and it had previously drawn her in times of crisis. She had a feeling she’d find exactly what she was looking for inside now as well.

At this early hour the bar was nearly empty, but the bartender didn’t glance twice at Noora. She scanned the room then walked over to a slumped figure in a corner.

“Oh, Miracat,” Noora sighed. She reached down, squeezed her shoulder, and then shook her. Mira’s head rolled along the counter, but she didn’t lift it. Noora shook her harder. “Mira, it’s time to get up. You need to go home.”

“Nooo,” Mira groaned and slowly raised her head. “I can’t go home. My wife is dead!”

“No I’m not.” Noora grinned as Mira blurrily blinked at her. She looked gobsmacked. “What? If a giant squid couldn’t kill me, do you really think something as simple as walking the plank would do me in, Miracat?”

“Noora?” Mira’s welled with tears. “But… they said you were dead! Are you a ghost?”

“No, sweetheart, not yet. Come on, let’s take you home.”

Noora slapped a few coins on Mira’s table then flung one of Mira’s arms over her shoulders and pulled her to her feet. With effort she was able to steer her wife toward the door and led her out of the bar. Normally, Mira would be industriously working for the City Watch at this hour, but she tended to go on a drunken bender at the bar where they first met, and courted, when informed of her wife’s death. At least, that had been the case when a kraken had sunk _The Kiekko-Vantaa_ from right under Noora. 

It had disturbed her the first time Mira reacted like this to her death, but she wasn’t above admitting it worked to her advantage this time. Noora would never want Mira to pickle herself for any reason, but it was a lot easier to reach her outside of a watch house. Guards of any strip weren’t particularly interested in allowing perceived pirates stroll in and out their stations at will. She needed to talk with Mira at least once before Helsinki was lost to her forever. Noora owed her that much before sailing off with _The Whitecaps_ for good.

Leading Mira home was rather difficult, since she could barely walk, but no one wanted to get involved with a clearly drunken lady. However, the brisk walk seemed to do Mira some good, because by the time they eventually arrived at home she was steadier on her feet. Noora struggled with the door for a bit, but then ushered Mira inside. She wanted to put her to bed immediately, but Mira refused to let go of her. Instead she clung to her, sobbing into her shoulder.

“Miracat, sweetie, it’s okay. I’m okay. No need for tears,” Noora said, stroking her back.

“I thought you were dead for weeks!” Mira wailed. “Do you have any idea how awful that is?”

“No, but I can imagine,” Noora said softly. She ran a hand through Mira’s hair.

“They called you a pirate and a traitor to the state.”

“I know and I certainly wasn’t either when Mustonen made me walk the plank. He falsified his reports and ruined my good name. I can’t let that stand, even if I no longer have a reputation.”

“I missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

“Are you home for good now?” Mira asked. “Or are you going to fight the navy for your old position? We could find a new line of work for you.”

“I need to fight,” Noora said, hating the fact her words made Mira visibly deflate. “You know the sea and the sky are in my veins.”

“I know, but I’ve lost you twice. I can’t go through it a third time; my heart can’t take it.”

“So, this is the end? I won’t stop you if you want a divorce.” Mira wouldn’t want to stay married to a pirate once her connection to _The Whitecaps_ was revealed.

“That’s not want I want in the slightest! Noora, I love you. I miss you. I hate missing you all the time! Even if you were a real pirate, I’d still want to be with you.”

“Really?”

“Of course!” Mira grabbed her wrist. “But you’re going to figure that out later because I need you now.”

Noora couldn’t argue with that.

By the time Mira fell asleep, Noora knew what she had to do. She couldn’t abandon her new crew or her revenge plans, but she also knew she couldn’t leave Mira again. Not like this—not when she was willing to follow her wherever. She crept out of their bed and dressed silently. Mira would be upset if she woke to find her leaving, especially to get revenge against a naval captain. Just before she left their home—likely for the last time, considering Finland’s stance on pirates—she scribbled a note for Mira asking her to come to the pier at midnight, if she wanted to be with her no matter what. Then Noora left and went back to _The Whitecaps_ as fast as her feet could carry her.

Julie wasn’t pleased with Noora when she returned. However, there wasn’t time for a proper dressing down before the plan had to be put in motion. It was a simple enough plan, sneak into Mustonen’s manor while he was away at a ceremony in his honor, steal everything of value, and take it back to the ship by horse cart to fence in another country. Since tomorrow was a national holiday, the house would be far less staffed than usual and they could easily disable anyone who remained inside. They’d be back to the ship by midnight and set sail within the hour. The timeline might be a little tight, but Noora imagined they could manage; after all, these were professional pirates.

If they weren’t pressed for time, they might have broken in through a side door, but instead Kendall took them through the front door. Turned out the large fancy lock wasn’t worth a damn when faced with a nimble-fingered pirate. The twins rushed in first, quickly followed by Hannah, Winnie, and a few others to find and subdue any staff on hand and collect basic valuables. Noora and Julie went in last, but with a more distinct purpose; they were to find Mustonen’s office and take his prized possessions.

She had only been in this manor once before, upon first being assigned to the _Sumi Roar_ , but Noora remembered the way. She leapt up the steps of the main staircase two and a time then sped down the hall with Julie silently shadowing. Inside the office Noora lit a lamp and went straight for the desk. She emptied each drawer into her satchel, figuring she’d sort out the trash from the valuables later. Any information from the navy could be just as valuable, if not more so, than banknotes lying around. Julie walked the perimeter of the room before eventually yanking a landscape painting off the wall.

“Is that valuable?” Noora asked.

“No, it’s a trash print a reputable safe company gives out with every purchase of their wall safes,” Julie explained, gesturing at the now revealed cast iron door. She reached a hand up to the tumbler and started twisting. “I’m surprised Mustonen didn’t bother to replace it with a different painting, but if he didn’t even do that…”

She twisted the combination lock back and forth a few times before there was an audible click. With a turn of the handle the safe door swung open. Noora’s jaw dropped as Julie laughed.

“Wow, I’ve never actually run into an installed safe with the factory code still in place,” Julie said. “Does he realize they all start out with the same code? I didn’t even have to listen for the tumblers.”

“I wasn’t kidding when I said he was an incompetent captain.” Noora shrugged. “Let’s clean him out before I start feeling bad for his family.”

There wasn’t that much in the safe. There were some deeds, fine jewelry, a few stacks of bank notes, an ornate knife, and a slim folder with a few papers in it, but not much else. Noora was unimpressed as Julie swept the things into her sack. She would have explored the room more, looking for something worthwhile, but they heard a shot.

With pistols in hand, they raced back to the main staircase. Someone had left a lit lantern, which illuminated Hannah lying on the stairs. Her face was a grimace of pain as she clutched her shoulder. Noora crouched down and scanned the area for the threat. Mustonen stood just inside the open doorway with his smoking pistol still aimed at Hannah. Without even thinking about it, Noora raised her gun and fired. She had aimed at his hand to disarm him, but as soon as she fired, he crumpled to the floor.

“Make certain I really hit him,” Julie ordered as she cracked open her pistol to reload. “Slit his throat if he gives you any trouble. Hannah, how are you feeling?”

“It’s just a flesh wound, Captain, could be worse,” Hannah said as Noora trotted past her. She tried to smile, but her face had gone white from the pain and her lips simply curled back into a snarl. Julie whistled loudly to draw the crew’s attention, as an injury like this meant it was time to move out.

“He’s hit,” Noora called out. Blood seeped out of the hole in his belly, staining his white shirtfront crimson. Further examination proved that her shot was also true and had made a mess of his right hand. She stomped down hard on his good wrist and crouched by his face. “Gut shots like this are a mixed blessing. They don’t kill you right away, like that shot you gave my friend could, but boy are they a painful way to go out once the infection sets in. You’re lucky.”

“How?” Mustonen barked. “You shot me!”

“Odds are good you can find a more competent doctor than you are a ship’s captain in Helsinki,” Noora said. She carefully stripped him of his shiny new medal and his captain’s stripes. “And you’ll go on to needlessly kill more crews with your incompetence and pettiness.” 

“Räty? Is that you, you rat bastard?”

“You made me into a pirate when you made me walk the plank and then tarnished my good name. Be glad I still have more morals than you do, otherwise I’d stab you in the back right now.”

“If you’re going to kill him, do it now,” Jocelyne growled as she and Monique hustled past, carrying Hannah. “Otherwise, shake a leg.”

Noora didn’t kill him. She was better than that. However, she wasn’t above stomping on the one set of jewels she didn’t bother taking from him. She grinned at his howls of anguish as she hopped into the last vehicle still standing outside, which happened to be Mustonen’s carriage. Inside sat Mrs. Mustonen looking rather aghast at the bloody pirate sprawled across the bench from her.

“How’s she doing?” Noora asked.

“Bad. She’s lost a lot of blood. I doubt my tourniquet will hold for long,” Monique said. “Do you know of any doctors we could take her to?”

“I… maybe.” It depended on just how upset Mira was with her. She tapped Mrs. Mustonen’s dress with her boot. “Hey, what time is it? I know you have a watch in that purse.”

“H-half past ten,” Mrs. Mustonen sobbed after she found the timepiece in her purse. “Oh, I wish Pasi had listened to me when I said I wanted to stay until the end!”

“I think we can reach her, but she’s going to be furious with me.”

“I don’t give a shit about that,” Monique growled. She shoved Noora toward the door. “Go tell Joce and help her steer this damn thing before we crash!”

With that order in place, Noora slipped out of the speeding carriage and carefully crawled along its side until she reached the driver’s bench, where Jocelyne sat urging the horses on. She was clearly pushing the horses too hard, as they were already lathered up, which was completely pointless since she didn’t know where they were going. So Noora pulled the reins out of her hands, slowed the carriage to a slightly less breakneck speed, and set them on a new course.

“What happened to the carriage driver?” Noora asked.

“Punched him out at the manor,” Jocelyne explained. “He was squawking and wanting a fight, so I gave him one. He didn’t last. Where are you taking us?”

“To a doctor.”

The nice thing about driving at such a late hour through the streets of Helsinki was that they were clear enough Noora could keep the horses at a swift trot. They still had to twist and dodge other passersby of course, there was never an hour when the streets were truly empty, but they didn’t have to stop in traffic. She hoped the route she had plotted them on didn’t jostle Hannah too much, but her personal comfort was far less important than their speed.

Eventually they were charging down her home street and Noora rapidly slowed the horses before lurching to a stop. She didn’t know if Mira was home or if she’d see her, but she was sure that she wouldn’t turn an injured person away. Good doctors treated everyone and that included pirates. Mira was the best doctor Noora had ever met. She just hoped Mira would let her stick around long enough to explain the situation before she threw her out of the house.

“The doctor’s in there?” Jocelyne asked, pointing at Noora’s front door. Noora nodded, but before she could fish out her keys, Jocelyne kicked in the door.

As the door caved in Noora heard a scream. Mira as still in there. Understandably, a strange pirate bursting into her home had scared her. Noora rushed in after her crewmate. Mira was crouched behind her steam trunk hesitantly brandishing her doctoral sword. Of course, Jocelyne had yet to encounter a situation she wouldn’t escalate, which was why she had also drawn her sword.

“Mira, Mira, it’s okay!” Noora shouted, rushing to get between them. She shoved the tip of Jocelyne’s sword toward the floor. “Put that thing away before you hurt her.”

“How else do we get her to treat Hannah?” Jocelyne demanded.

Noora ignored her as she turned to face Mira. She still had her sword drawn, but Mira had lowered her as she tried to catch her breath. Noora smiled hesitantly at her, but she didn’t smile back. That wasn’t good.

“Hey, you’ve got your trunk out,” Noora said, tapping the scarred wood top. She couldn’t remember the last time Mira hauled it out of their bedroom. “Does that mean you decided to come along?”

“What is going on, Noora? And why are you with this pirate?” Mira asked.

“She’s part of my new crew,” Noora admitted, looking down. She didn’t think she could meet her gaze. “So you may want to reconsider that need to stay with me no matter what.”

“Oh Noora.”

“I don’t give a shit about your interpersonal relations,” Jocelyne said, cracking her knuckles as she stepped toward Mira. “If she’s a doctor, she’s coming with us. We’ve got an injured crew member that needs treatment now.”

“You are not laying a hand on my wife,” Noora said.

“Your wife?”

“Yes.” Noora glanced at Mira. “That is, unless she’s divorced me since I last saw her.”

“Wait, someone’s injured?” Mira asked. “Where are they?”

“Yeah, Hannah’s bleeding out while you two chit chat,” Jocelyne said. “She’s out front in the carriage with Mo.”

Mira grabbed her physician’s bag off the side table and headed out the door. “Throw my trunk on the back of the carriage while I see to the patient. And Noora, we are going to have a long talk later.”

“Of course Miracat,” Noora agreed.

Mira disappeared into the carriage as Noora and Jocelyne threw the trunk onto the back. While Noora secured the trunk, Jocelyne set the horses at another breakneck speed, which nearly sent her tumbling off the rear boot. She swore and clung to the trunk until they reached cruising speed then climbed onto the roof of the carriage where she could more safely ride. Once on top she lay down to keep from falling off and realized she was close enough to not only talk with Jocelyne, but also hear what was going on inside the carriage.

From the sound of things, Mrs. Mustonen was not taking Mira’s addition to the carriage well—probably because she was now investigating Hannah’s wound. From the cries of pain and Monique’s swearing, Noora had a feeling things were difficult inside. If Mira ended up performing surgery, they’d get even more difficult and extremely messy. She hoped it didn’t come to that.

Of course Jocelyne had them going at a fair clip, slow didn’t seem to be in her vocabulary, but then the carriage slowed. Noora couldn’t believe they were anywhere near the harbor yet, as she couldn’t taste salt on the air or smell rotting fish. However, they were slowing and as they slowed she realized she could see a half formed barricade across the street with several members of the watch present.

“I don’t like the looks of this,” Jocelyne grumbled. “This is exactly the sort of company we didn’t want.”

“They shouldn’t already be putting up blockades. I doubt it’s been an hour since we left the Mustonen manor,” Noora said. “In any case, we can’t let them search the carriage, which is exactly what they’ll do if we reach that barricade.”

“Think they’ll search us?”

“Definitely. I’ve seen enough city watch checkpoints to know one when I see one.”

“So then what should we do? They’ve already spotted us and we missed the last turn off. It’ll draw too much attention if we try to turn around and we’ll be damn slow doing it.”

“Blast through it,” Noora ordered, making a command decision. “The only way through at this point is forward and the only way we can go forward is to charge through this barricade before they have it fully set up.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. It’ll put them on our tail, but they were already after us, even if they didn’t know it. Soon as we reach the ship we can take off, since we should be the last ones to return.”

“Aye,” Jocelyne agreed. She cracked the reins, causing the horses to speed up again. “I’ve never been one to turn tail.”

“Hey!” Noora shouted, rapping on the carriage roof. She hoped she had Mira’s attention. “Things are about to get bumpy. I’d hold off on any more delicate work until we’re on the ship.”

Monique’s head popped out of one of the carriage windows. “What’s going on?”

“Trouble,” Noora replied as Jocelyne cackled.

Monique took one look ahead then pulled her head back inside the carriage. Jocelyne urged the horses into a full on gallop aimed straight at the checkpoint. A couple of patrolmen called for them to halt and then tried to threaten them, but ultimately threw themselves to the sides to avoid being trampled. Luckily, the barricade was still in more of a ceremonial stage than an actual deterrent because that allowed the horses and carriage to careen right through it. On the other hand, this action had the patrolmen trilling on their whistles for support, as the pirates were now part of an active chase.

This was the first time Noora could remember being part of the leading party in a chase. She didn’t much like it. Oh sure, the adrenaline she usually experienced during a chase was still there and she found herself navigating for Jocelyne so that they didn’t crash or run afoul of anymore members of the watch, but she was also experiencing fear—a lot of fear, actually. For one thing, Mira was with her for this chase. Noora was used to putting her own life in danger, though never previously on the wrong side of the law, but she wasn’t used to Mira being in the thick of things. She wasn’t used to danger either. Plus, the watch patrol members were now shooting at them and Noora was far more exposed than she usually was.

“Make a right at the next street and then an immediate left down the alleyway!” Noora shouted as a bullet zinged past her shoulder. “That’ll get you to the harbor!”

“Aye-aye!” Jocelyne responded.

She took the turns at breakneck speed and Noora had to cling to the roof to stay onboard. Instead, as they cavorted down the alleyway and barrel caught on one of the back wheels and tore it off the carriage. There was a loud thud and then the grinding screech of steel on cobblestone as they continued their mad dash. The noise was abated somewhat when they clattered onto the wooden boards of the dock a few minutes later. 

As they came to a halt, Jocelyn hopped off the driver’s bench and hollered for the crew of _The Whitecaps_ to lower a gangplank. Then she wrenched opened a carriage door to allow Monique and Mira to carry Hannah to the ship. While they were doing that Noora slide down the back of the carriage and cut through the bindings on the trunk with her knife. As soon as the gangplank was in place several members of the crew rushed down to aid them. Noora relinquished Mira’s chest with ease and watched three pirates carry it onboard just behind Hannah. She grabbed one of the sacks of treasure and winked at Mrs. Mustonen.

“You know, none of this would have happened if your husband had followed Finnish naval law,” Noora said to her, though she doubted Mrs. Mustonen really took in her words. One could hope.

“Noora, I swear, you get on this ship right now or so help me!” Mira shouted over the railing as _The Whitecaps_ slowly pulled away from the dock.

“Oh shit,” Noora swore. She had to stop doing cool flashy things, even if it was second nature to her, before it bit her in the butt. Again.

“Stop in the name of the law!” an officer shouted, but she ignored him.

Noora bolted toward some of the rigging hanging over the side of the ship and launched herself off the dock toward it. However, with the sack of treasure over her shoulder, she miscalculated her weight and fell shot. Hitting the water, Noora instantly went under. She kicked fast and hard, which brought her head back above the surface. She really ought to drop her satchel and start swimming for the ship. She’d look like a drowned rat, but she could still reach her crew and her wife.

Instead, Noora tore her grappling hook from her belt and shot it into the side of The Whiecaps. Just as she was about to reel herself in the ship lifted out of the harbor, headed for the sky. The unexpected gravitational force nearly tore her arms out of her sockets, yet she somehow managed to hang on.

As she dangled helplessly, she looked down at their pursuant. Considering her vulnerable position she expected someone to shoot her. It’s what she would have done in their position and it would have ensured that at least one criminal was apprehended. In fact, she could see one patrol officer had her rifle trained on Noora, but then her superior told her to stand down. It wasn’t what she would have done in that situation, but Noora appreciated the fact the Helsinki watch had a different standard for when to shoot pirates.

Once they were no longer in easy firing range the twins rappelled down the side of the ship. Noora was delighted to see them. Monique took the treasure from her and Jocelyn tied a rope around her waist to ensure that if she fell on the climb, it wouldn’t be to her doom. As soon as she was safely aboard Noora’s entrance was met with cheers from the crew. She grinned and smiled until her eyes met Mira’s.

The punch was hard enough to loosen Noora’s molars. When the stars cleared her vision she could see Mira clutching her hand in pain as the rest of the crew looked on. Winnie had her hand on her hilt in case things took a turn for the worse, but it was Jocelyne, surprisingly, who was keeping the peace.

“If you ever do anything as foolhardy and utterly stupid as your actions today, I will make you regret it for the rest of your life,” Mira growled.

“Understood. I promise that while I may do stupid things and I may do foolhardy things, they won’t be this stupid and foolhardy at the same time,” Noora promised. “Forgive me?”

Mira kissed her in response. She didn’t stop until Julie cleared her throat and then she hung on tightly to Noora’s shirt.

“We’re glad you made it onto the ship,” Julie said to Noora. She nodded at Mira. “Who is this?”

“Dr. Mira Jalosuo, please meet Captain Julie Chu,” Noora said. She squeezed Mira’s side. “Mira’s not only my wife, but she’s also a competent surgeon. Speaking of which, how is Hannah?”

“She’ll have a nasty scar, but she’ll live,” Mira said. “How much use she regains in that shoulder will depend entirely on how much she’s willing to work on it.”

“Hannah’s the hardest worker I know,” Kendall said. “She’ll be back to full strength in no time.”

“Excellent,” Julie said. “If Hannah will be fine, then I’m willing to declare this mission an unmitigated success. Especially since we seem to have acquired a surgeon. It’s been a long time since we had one of those; far longer than our trial without proper navigation. Will you be willing to sign our code?”

“Did you?” Mira asked. Noora nodded. A tired smile spread across Mira’s face. “Then I guess we’ll be pirates together.”

As the rest of the crew got back to work—they technically had to out fly the Helsinki harbor patrol and countless other governmental entities—Noora rose on her toes to kiss her wife one more time. Then she hurried to her captain’s side and charted a course to safety. It took a hard night’s sailing to eventually make port in an uninhabited cove northwest of Mariehamn. It was a safe place to dock, as even if any locals stumbled across them, they’d never turn them into the Finns because they hated Finnish sovereignty more than they hated pirates. It’d be a different story if they were running from the Swedes. 

The ship had suffered some serious damage during their daring escape, the Finnish navy not being one to skimp on the powder when pirates raided their home harbor, but no one else had suffered any injuries as grave as Hannah’s wound. Still, Mira had been kept on her feet long after the rest of the crew had gone to bed. From the moment she was relieved of duty Noora stayed by her side. When the last crewman was finally stitched up she gingerly led her wife to their tiny cabin where they tumbled into bed and a deep sleep.

The next morning Noora joined Julie at the captain’s table in the galley. Her captain had a spread of paperwork surrounding and she seemed pleased. Noora took that as a good sign. Julie was typically a happy person, but even she wouldn’t be all sunshine if the haul from last night’s mission hadn’t been good. When she slid into an empty seat Julie nodded at her and then returned her attention to the papers.

“I take it we made out better than I perceived from the raid?” Noora asked. “Are those papers out of Mustonen’s safe?”

“The most valuable thing we took aboard last night was your wife. If you had mentioned she was a surgeon from the beginning, I would have been onboard with this fool’s errand from the start,” Winnie said. “Most of the crew would give their eye teeth up if it meant they knew there was a doctor to patch them up.”

“I didn’t think she’d drop everything and join me on the run,” Noora admitted with a shrug. “She’s far better than I deserve.”

“And don’t you forget that,” Mira said. She gestured at the table with a free hand. “May I join you?”

“Certainly. After breakfast I’d like you to sign on with the crew,” Julie said. She swept up the papers and carefully stowed them in a folder. “We made a minor profit, not really worth the effort we expended, but revenge was the main goal of the evening, so monetary gain was less important. I’m not happy with what Mustonen did to my gunner last night, especially since his actions make it feel like we didn’t ensure that justice—pirate justice—was served.”

“I was going to let things go, a deal is a deal, but if you’re gunning for him now as well, I’m all in,” Noora said.

“You’re always all in, whatever the case may be,” Mira said. Noora grinned at her.

“I think the answer lies in these papers. It took a little while to sort out, but they’re plans to a war game,” Julie explained. “An important one.”

Noora frowned and leaned forward in her seat. She hadn’t been Mustonen’s first mate or anything—in part because there had been a competency clash from the start—but she had been a senior officer. If the _Sumi Roar_ was to be in a war game, she should have known about it; she would have needed to familiarize herself with the plans so that she could chart their course for the games and prepare contingency strategies. This had to be a new development.

“Since when and with who?” Noora demanded.

“The Canadians,” Winnie said. “From the looks of things the _Sumi Roar_ was added in at the last minute after another ship had to drop out.”

“More importantly, the _HMS Sundog_ is participating,” Julie said with a triumphant smile on her face.

Noora frowned and wracked her brain for any information in particular on the ship. If memory served her, there was nothing particularly interesting about the _Sundog_ beyond the fact it was a relatively small clipper serving in the Canadian fleet. Eventually she admitted her ignorance for why anyone would care about the ship. Mira and Winnie also confessed they didn’t understand the _Sundog’s_ importance.

“I know from a bit of gossip through an unofficial, but extremely reliable, channel that there is an incredibly important crewman on the _Sundog_. Specifically, she’s important enough to the Canadian crown that I was warned to stay away from that ship at all costs,” Julie explained. “The plan still needs work, but at its heart I say we crash this war game, kidnap the crewman from the _Sundog_ for ransom, and then defeat the rest of the ships in the game before trading her back for the reward and hightailing it out of there.”

“We need to hammer out the details, but I like it, Captain,” Winnie said. “If these plans are correct, we have two months to prepare for this mission.”

“Is this person’s ransom really worth the risk incurred busting into a multicounty military operation?” Noora asked. “And what are your intel sources? Can you really trust them?”

“What are the risks to the crew?” Mira added. “Sorry, I know I’m not technically a part of it yet, but how dangerous is this operation going to be?”

“Most war games employ blanked ammunition, while _The Whitecaps_ will only have live rounds, which should give us the advantage. However, I highly doubt any of these ships would completely empty their holds of real weaponry and there will likely be other ships around that are not participating, but ready for a real battle,” Noora explained. “There will be real risk, which is why there needs to be real reward.”

“I cannot reveal my source, but I have repeatedly trusted her with my life and she has always come through for me,” Julie replied gravely. “She shared this information with me in hopes that the knowledge would keep me safely involved. I doubt she will be pleased with this plan, in fact I know she will be furious when news of our daring raid reaches her, but the mission objective is real and I promise it’s worth it.”

“Then I guess we’re both in,” Noora sighed. She glanced at Mira, who nodded. “We trust you, Captain.”

“Excellent,” Julie laughed. They finished breakfast together then the four headed back to the captain’s quarters so that Mira could officially sign on with the crew.

Over the next two months _The Whitecaps_ went on various small raids. However, the vast majority of their time was spent repairing the ship and preparing for the Finnish-Canadian war game. Julie and Winnie spent much of their time pouring over tactics and battle strategy. Noora poured over all the information she could obtain about the topography and air currents for the battle location. Mira had the surgery restocked while monitoring Hannah’s recovery, which seemed to be progressing quite well, though it would be a long time before she could be flying around on a hang glider again. As for the rest of the crew, they were regularly put through their paces with drills for how they ought to react during the raid. It wasn’t that they were inexperienced, but simply that everything needed to be precise if the kidnapping was to be a success.

By the time _The Whitecaps_ left the Åland Islands for the North Sea the crew was as prepared as they could be. Noora suspected they were far better off than the _Sumi Roar_ and likely as well as the rest of her military’s fleet, though they still had a slight edge. After all, they wouldn’t know of the importance of the _Sundog_ and therefore wouldn’t pay that ship any particular attention. The Canadians would be the real threat in this operation, but once they had their hostage, she couldn’t see how they would dare any serious attacks on their ship; at least not if this crewman was as important as Julie suggested. At this point all she could do was hope for the best and prepare for an absolute disaster.

The North Sea was an interesting choice for the war games. Its location was a neutral site, as neither military power had bases directly along its coastline, though it was certainly closer to Finland than Canada. The starting location pinged out as just off the western coast of Scotland, which put it far enough away from Sweden—a major aeronautical power—and Germany—a minor one—to allow the maneuvers to take place uninterrupted. Presumably the games would mostly take place in the air, but some naval components could be employed, as the North Sea had an average depth of ninety meters and reasonable year round temperatures.

They sailed along the coastline up above the clouds toward their destination. At this point in the game subterfuge was their best option to infiltrate and they wanted as many hiding options as possible. Normally, the route Noora had plotted wouldn’t be an acceptable one, as the North Sea usually experienced prevailing westerly winds, which left currents stirring in a counterclockwise fashion and a difficult journey forward with sails, but luck was on their side as a rare eastern wind had reversed things favorably to keep them moving at a good clip.

When they first arrived they seemed to be the first ship at the rendezvous point. However, as they circled around above the cloud coverage several ships were discovered a few thousand feet below. Eventually Noora spotted the _Sumi Roar_ and felt her insides twist; it was the first time she had seen her old ship since her summary execution and it brought up a host of unexpected feelings. Julie seemed to notice her unease because she squeezed her shoulder encouragingly before quietly calling for the ship to circle round again. Eventually the whole host of ships had converged and the two flagships for the respective fleets met to establish the rules for this skirmish. 

As they discussed terms, _The Whitecaps_ honed in on the _HMS Sundog_. It was the smallest of the Canadian ships and by far the most simple of designs. Noora vaguely wondered why it had even been included in this showcase as they followed the ship out toward its starting point for the campaign. In any case, it seemed like it would be an easy enough task to overtake them once they were properly separated from their countrymen.

As soon as the _Sundog_ was secluded _The Whitecaps_ ambushed them. Their descent was rapid enough that the clouds caught on the ship’s rigging had yet to dissipate when the boarding party’s boots hit the foreign deck. The lookout was so thunderstruck by their unexpected appearance he didn’t shout a warning until after the crew was engaged in combat. The Canadians didn’t know what hit them and were soon overwhelmed.

Noora didn’t board the other ship until after her crew had secured the _Sundog_. She didn’t even really want to board—it still felt wrong in her gut rendering innocent ships helpless, even if she was a pirate now—but Julie wanted her onboard to see something and she obeyed her captain. Fortunately, it looked like everyone they passed were still alive, albeit some needed the attention of a surgeon, and that lessened the weight on her conscious as she followed Julie below deck.

At first she had assumed her presence was to ascertain the value of any maps or charts the crew came across, but they weren’t headed anywhere that would typically contain such objects. Then Noora wondered if she were being pulled for basic grunt work hauling cargo home since she hadn’t participated in the fight—though she had wanted to; simply someone had to steer the ship. That seemed to be a little more likely when Julie halted her in front of a young woman seated on one of the galley benches. She was bound and gagged, but if the intense hatred in her eyes could be turned into reality, Noora would be nothing more than a bit of ash in her boots.

“Is this… the esteemed crewman you mentioned?” Noora asked. “Forgive my ignorance, but I still don’t see how a mere slip of a girl could be important to Canada.”

“She’s a Crosby, Noora,” Julie said.

“Is that so?” Noora asked, still in disbelief that this girl could be linked to that particular royal family. “I don’t keep up with maple leaves or moose, but even I would have heard about a Sidney Crosby engagement and she’s too old to be his bastard.”

“She’s his sister,” Julie patiently explained. “Taylor Crosby, the crown princess.”

“Oh.” Now was not the time to explain that Noora had always assumed Taylor was a male crown prince of Canada. Things weren’t always accurately translated into Finnish and she had never been one to follow monarchies closely; especially not foreign ones. Of course, this certainly explained the kerfuffle a few years back when Sidney officially named his sibling his heir.

“I want you to get her back to the ship and secure her,” Julie said. “No need to stick her in the brig, the guest quarters across from Winnie’s room will do quite nicely.”

“Aye captain,” Noora agreed. She snapped off a salute then hauled Taylor over her shoulder. Of course she struggled and protested, but whoever had gotten to her first had done an excellent job binding her. She was no harder to handle than a struggling salmon and Noora enjoyed fishing.

When she dropped Taylor on the floor of her new quarters she noticed that there was a bit of blood dribbling down from the gag in her mouth. Fearing that the girl might have bitten her tongue off—though why she might choose to do that over a simple kidnapping, Noora wouldn’t know, but didn’t want to take the chance—she ran to fetch Mira for a quick check up. Luckily a quick examination proved this wasn’t the case, however, she had managed to split her lip. Taylor was not the most cooperative patient as Mira tried to stitch the wound.

“If you don’t stop struggling, I’m going to hold your head in place and you will regret the amount of hair I take out in the process,” Noora snarled as Taylor twitched out of Mira’s grasp and tried to bite her for the third time.

“Easy now, Noora,” Mira said, though it was clear she was losing patience as well. “The girl’s obviously scared about her predicament.”

“I’m not scared, I’m angry!” Taylor snapped. “You’ll regret attacking my ship and taking me hostage. Only cowards and pirates do that!”

“Well, we are pirates, so your argument holds,” Noora replied. “But kidnapping you wasn’t our first choice either. You can thank Pasi Mustonen for that; it’s his fault we’re mixed up in these war games in the first place.”

“How so?” Taylor asked, distracted long enough for Mira to get a firm grip on her jaw.

“If he hadn’t wronged me, neither one of us would be pirates in the first place,” Noora said. “Nor would our captain want revenge against him and we wouldn’t even know about these games, if he wasn’t incompetent about caring for sensitive information.”

“He isn’t a very good captain, is he?” Mira asked as she stitched up Taylor’s lip.

“No. I don’t know how many times he nearly destroyed our ship before he tried to execute me for making him look bad.” Noora shook her head. “Honestly surprised the _Sumi Roar_ is still flight worthy at the moment.”

“I know that ship,” Taylor said. Mira tutted and told her to stop speaking or she’d end up with a crooked scar.

“You probably saw it during the meeting an hour ago. Only reason we came was to make him look bad,” Noora explained. “I imagine Julie will schedule hostage negotiations to safely return you tomorrow, but today we want to incapacitate every ship in this campaign and let them know we did it with Mustonen’s plans. The man should not be in charge of anything.”

“So you should thank Mustonen for your current predicament,” Mira finished for her. She patted Taylor’s cheek. “Don’t injure yourself again. I only have a limited supply of pain relief and I want to save it for more serious injuries. We won’t return you any faster if you’re damaged.”

“Got it,” Taylor said. “Do you think you could untie me? I mean, I’m stuck in a locked room and if you’re only holding me for a day, there’s no real point in escaping.”

Noora and Mira exchanged another glance. Then Noora grinned, pulled out her knife and slit one of the ropes around Taylor’s wrists almost all the way through. Taylor frowned when she stopped cutting and gestured at her wrists, but Noora shook her head.

“You seem a competent enough lass that I imagine you can work your way through the last bit of that binding and untie your feet yourself. That should keep you busy long enough for us to leave.”

“Or I could attack you now?” Taylor suggested, but it was clear she wasn’t really serious.

“And then I could knock you out and tie you to that bed frame. Your choice.”

“…I’ll work myself free from here.”

“You made the right one.”

“Did you really have to leave her like that?” Mira asked once they were safely out of the room and Noora had locked the door. “You should have finished freeing her hands.”

“Mira, your safety is paramount to me and I’m not about to court undue risk for you. That’s why I only cut her mostly free. You know she would have tried to make a break for it and there would have been a fight and while I would have won it, you might have gotten hurt. Wasn’t worth it to me.”

Mira went back to her surgery, while Noora returned to the deck. The rest of the crew had mostly secured their booty and it appeared that Julie was ready for them to cast off, which meant Noora had to scramble back to her post by the ship’s wheel. Allie Thunstrom, the ship’s helmsman, was already waiting for her when she arrived. Noora glanced at her chart—specially drawn up for this campaign and clipped to a nearby surface for easy reading in the air—and found the next ship’s starting location. The plan was to pick off the ships one by one and disable their communications as they went in hopes of keeping their free agency a secret for as long as possible. As neither Julie nor Winnie had suggested any changes, Noora set Allie onto their next target.

 _The Naisleijonat_ fell easily enough to _The Whitecaps_ when they took it out with another ambush attack. However, things got more difficult after that. Enough time had elapsed that the vessels were no longer guaranteed to be in their starting location and some had clearly chosen to employ the same battle plan as Julie had—they nearly collided with another ship in a cumulus cloud. They were still at an advantage, as _The Whitecaps_ was armed with live ammunition while everyone officially enrolled in the war games were using blanks, but they couldn’t guarantee that the ship was disabled before alerting its comrades to their presence. That made everything more dangerous.

Save for passing a couple of ships that had been “incapacitated” according to the terms of engagement, they didn’t see any of the other participants for several hours. In fact, the next sign of the enemy was when several cannon balls slammed into the gunner deck leaving massive holes in the wooden planks. Allie frantically spun the ship’s wheel, turning _The Whitecaps_ as fast as she would go without catapulting anything overboard as the rest of the crew rushed to their battle stations.

Noora didn’t recognize the specific ship, but she was familiar with the class and it flew Finnish colors. Clearly they knew _The Whitecaps_ didn’t belong and were willing to destroy it to get them out of the games. She was also certain they didn’t know about their hostage and probably wouldn’t care if they told them about her the same way the Canadians would.

On Julie’s command, Hannah volleyed a set of their own cannonballs at the enemy ship. Only one actually landed, puncturing a hole in the bow, which would become a problem for the ship once it tried to land, but was of no consequence while they stayed aerial. The Finnish ship fired again. The pirates managed to dodge most of the ammunition, but another cannonball hit the deck, this time landing close enough it almost took out the helm. A blizzard of wooden splinters bombarded Noora and she barely covered her eyes in time.

“Ahh!” Allie cried. A large chunk of the deck protruded from her thigh. Even as blood rapidly stained her trouser leg she still weakly clung to the ship wheel with one hand.

“The captain ordered a dive, why—” Winnie’s barking broke off the moment she caught sight of Allie’s leg. “Noora, take the wheel. Allie, get down girl.”

Allie gratefully sank to the deck as Noora threw her body against the wheel. _The Whitecaps_ lurched downward and the top of the main mast scrapped along the hull of the other ship. Looking up Noora could see the ship’s name emblazoned along the side. They were fighting _The Kiekko-Vantaa_ , a ship she had never seen before, though she had briefly served upon its sister-ship.

“Try to get behind those bastards and whatever you do, don’t get hit again!” Winnie shouted as she pulled Allie onto her shoulders. “I need to get her to Mira!”

“And I’ll need a new navigator!” Noora shouted back as she struggled to keep the ship steady. “The wind currents are already turbulent and conditions will only worsen as the sun sets!”

“The captain’s too busy to help you now!”

“Then get me Crosby! Trust me!”

Noora didn’t catch Winnie’s reply as _The Kiekko-Vantaa_ was attacking again. With a lot of rapid twists and turns she managed to keep their vessel from being struck again, but she couldn’t do that and steer them into a favorable position for a counterattack—especially as the atmospheric conditions continued to fluctuate rapidly and without warning. If Noora were a better helmsman, she might be able to keep an eye on her navigation equipment as she steered, however she wasn’t a helmsman. No matter how talented a navigator she could possibly be, and Noora was one of the best, that didn’t negate the fact she had never charted these waters personally and she was still getting used to her ship while trying to do two jobs at once. If anything, the crew should be happy they hadn’t sustained yet more damage.

“I’ve got Crosby,” Kendall announced as she nearly shoved Taylor into Noora.

Noora spared a glance for her before nearly rolling the ship. Everyone paused momentarily to grab hold of something before they capsized then resumed their previous activities once the immediate danger had passed.

“Great Scott, are you trying to get us killed?” Taylor demanded.

“The opposite actually,” Noora replied. “You’re a navigator, aren’t you? Don’t lie now; I saw the compass rose tattooed on your wrist earlier.”

“So what if I am?” Taylor covered the identifying mark with her left hand. Clearly she was embarrassed to have it noticed, though Noora couldn’t fathom why.

“What’s the first part of the oath you took when they inked you?” Noora asked. She flashed her left wrist, which had a similar design though indicating a different artistic origin, to remind Taylor that she already knew the answer to her question.

“To protect and navigate truly any ship I happen to be on,” Taylor gritted out. “My loyalty is not to the crew or the flag we fly under, but to the ship itself.”

“Exactly. Now are you going to honor that oath and help me keep us in the air or do I toss you overboard?”

“I thought you said I was safe on this ship!”

“That was before I found you to be an oath breaker. Now which is it?”

“I don’t have a choice really.”

“Of course you do! I’d rather walk the plank than allow my ship into danger,” Noora expounded before thoughtfully adding, “which is exactly how I ended up on this crew.”

Taylor picked up several tools of the trade, which were chained to the ship to keep them from going overboard. Noora nodded her approval and then turned her attention back to keeping them from getting blown up. With someone else to keep track of elevation, barometric pressure, wind direction, and a host of other weather-related details Noora found it much easier to navigate and chart a course in her head for how to get them out of this mess. Taylor proved to be competent and able assistant, though Noora wouldn’t want to solely rely on her navigation in a stressful situation, and fully applied herself to the situation after a single quip about the quality of the tools.

With _The Whitecaps_ finally sailing true again, the crew was able to mount a counterattack. Soon the cannon balls volleyed at _The Kiekko-Vantaa_ were finding their mark. Then Hannah pulled out some sort of new rigging that Noora had never seen before and suddenly half the decks of _The Kiekko-Vantaa_ seemed to be on fire. Unlike the other ships where they were boarded after being disabled, Julie ordered a hasty retreat. No one argued.

They still had to contend with another ship in their immediate vicinity before they could safely escape. Taylor continued to assist, despite this new ship flying red and white colors, and they soon neutralized it with minimal additional damage. Breathing a sigh of relief Noora grinned at her compatriots as the adrenaline seeped out of her body. They were safely on their way out of the North Sea and the war games. Taylor shyly returned her smile and Noora dug through her typical platitudes she gave rookie officers. Nothing seemed to quite cover the situation they had just survived. Especially as she wanted to give her some genuine encouragement for a job well done.

“Crosby that was some mighty fine…” Noora trailed off when a shadow fell across the deck. Even in silhouette she’d know that ship anywhere and now they were stealing a page out of her own tactics manual. “Perkele!”

Before she could give proper warning the _Sumi Roar_ fell out of the sky on top of them. The keel of the _Sumi Roar_ scrapped across most of the poop deck taking off the varnish and ripping out the entirety of the port side railing, but otherwise ineffective as they had missed the masts. Indeed, the slow slide gave Hannah and her gunners time enough to swing their cannons around and fire. This took out the firepower on the _Sumi Roar’s_ starboard side. However, Kendall’s actions were more heroic, as she raced up to their highest deck with a hatchet in hand and with three mighty chops severed the rudder from the rest of the _Sumi Roar_. This effectively left them trapped in the sky unable to turn.

More than anything Noora wanted to board her old ship and take Mustonen captive, but Julie’s order of retreat was still in effect. Noora would not disobey such a command, especially when it would be to the detriment of the ship. So instead she shouted for them to open the aft sail for the crosswind. This command was shouted loudly enough to be heard across the entire ship and naturally carried over to the other one as well. As it hadn’t been that long since Noora issued orders that were instantly followed aboard the _Sumi Roar_ her voice drew the entire crew’s attention. That included the captain and Mustonen seemed more surprised to see her here than he had when Noora invaded his house.

When she made eye contact with old Mustonen Noora smirked and threw him a half assed salute—the sort that would have earned her a written reprimand if she still served aboard a navy ship. Before he could react someone finally opened the aft sails enough to catch the wind and _The Whitecaps_ hurtled away toward the horizon, the English coast, and safety, some distance beyond it.

In the end _The Whitecaps_ spent the night moored at the mouth of a small river as the crew toiled to patch the worst of the damage. Noora would be able to tell you exactly which river it was, but it was so small it had been left off her navigational charts. She quickly corrected the error and then saw to Taylor’s care, as her hands were more useful tending to the princess than to hammering nails.

Unsurprisingly, Taylor was upset to be locked up again. She seemed to think that her actions this afternoon merited free range, however, no one on board was naïve enough to agree. Instead Noora made a point of stressing that she was proud of Taylor for her actions—with her performance she had upheld her oaths to craft and country, which was exactly what she ought to tell her commanding officer when she finally made it home.

While Noora had promised Taylor’s stay on _The Whitecaps_ would only be for a day or so, it was ultimately extended to a week. It took that long in part due to repairs, but mostly because Julie wanted to be certain the Canadians would honor their parlay agreement. Noora was a little shocked by the idea that the Canadians could possibly even consider breaking a white flag truce, but as Alex pointed out—who cared about promises made to a pirate? So it made sense that Julie had to wait until she was doubly sure whomever _The Whitecaps_ negioated with honored the terms of their agreement in full.

When they did finally rendezvous with the Canadian ship everyone onboard _The Whitecaps_ blanched. Noora was certain no one, save perhaps Julie herself, had expected to meet the flagship _Les Canadiennes de Montreal_ , jewel of the Canadian navy. Noora wasn’t the most up to date on foreign military’s recommendations, but she understood it to be the spiritual successor to the _HMS Wickenheiser_ , a ship named after her commanding officer, Admiral Wickenheiser. It made sense they sent such an austere ship to reclaim their kidnapped heir, but it was more than a little unnerving to see up close and personal. Noora imagined they’d keep to the terms of the agreement, but they might as easily blow them out of the sky once Taylor was safely off board.

There was a commodore—Noora recognized the uniform, not the officer—crossing the gangplank before it had even touched down on _The Whitecaps_ deck. She had her eyes locked on Julie and was headed straight for the captain in such a manner that lesser women would have quaked in their boots. Instead, Julie just crossed her arms and smiled.

“I thought I told you to avoid the _Sundog_ at all costs!” the commodore shouted.

“And a good morning to you too, Caro,” Julie said flatly. “Welcome aboard.”

“Julie, do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve gotten yourself into? How much you’ve gotten us all into with this stunt?” The commodore waved a hand and looked like she might start crying. It was rather disconcerting. “We have new standing orders regarding your ship and I… I don’t…”

“Why don’t we talk in my quarters?” Julie offered. She grabbed her arm and offered a reassuring smile. “I promise we can get this all sorted out.”

“Wait, is Princess Taylor alright? Is she alive?”

“Of course she is! What kind of monster do you take me for?”

“One who clearly didn’t put her own ship’s best interest first,” the commodore grumbled, but she willingly followed Julie to her room.

“She called her Caro,” Noora said. “That wasn’t Caroline Ouellette, was it?”

“Aye,” Winny grumbled. “And you’d best leave them to their business. Ouellette’s all for king and country, but she’s an honorable sort who will stick to whatever bargain she strikes with the captain over Crosby.”

“Good to know.”

Noora rarely personally negotiated, as she was a poor compromiser, but she had carried enough diplomats in her day that she had a sense of how long this sort of thing ought to last. Of course the royalty angle meant everything would take longer and be more complicated, but the time they spent ensconced over simple ransom demands seemed unreasonably long. She was starting to wonder if they needed to send a rescue party in for their captain in case Ouellette had overpowered her when the pair finally emerged from Julie’s quarters. Both women were disheveled and Ouellette seemed to still be tucking her shirt back into her britches while her epaulettes were a mess. Noora’s brain stopped working for a moment as she tried to work out why they were in such disarray, but when it clicked back into gear she stopped wondering. It certainly explained the time delay.

“We’ve negotiated terms, satisfactory to both parties,” Julie announced. Ouellette coughed and her cheeks reddened, but she said nothing to dispute Julie’s claim. “Winnie, assemble a team to store our loot securely onboard. The commodore’s crew will kindly bring it over to our ship, but we needn’t trouble them with going below deck.”

“Aye, captain,” Winnie replied, saluting smartly as if that was typical behavior.

“Noora, fetch our honored guest. I’m sure she’ll be happy to go home now.”

“Aye,” Noora said as she felt her own heels click together as she saluted. There was something in Julie’s manner today that seemed to make everyone act like this was a professional ship. Or perhaps they wanted to impress the Canadian crew. In any case Noora found herself trotting below deck at double time to fetch Taylor for the exchange.

When she reached Taylor’s quarters she was alarmed to find the princess not in them. However, before she could begin reacting to the situation she heard laughter down the hall. Tracing the noise Noora found Taylor with Mira in the surgery. They seemed to be halfway through an itinerary check for the surgery while discussing some topic that had the pair in stitches. Both even smiled at her when they noticed her presence.

“Did you really crash the ship during your first tour of duty?” Taylor asked.

“We did not crash,” Noora automatically retorted. “She was perfectly fine and only the slightest bit dinged.”

“Which happened when you crashed through a dock, completely bisecting it,” Mira added. Noora scowled at her and Mira simply smiled. “I still have the newspaper clipping from your adventure; it was the first time your name made it into the papers.”

“Even I didn’t wreck anything my first time navigating,” Taylor cackled.

“And I doubt you were ever the sole able-bodied navigator onboard a vessel before you finished your basic training,” Noora said tartly. “Now come along, Crosby, the captain’s negioated your return.”

“Already?” Taylor whined, however she set down her clipboard and got off the end of the examining table. “I still haven’t learned how to gouge a man’s eye out!”

“Jocelyne says the keys to a good eye gouging are thumb placement and sisu,” Noora said. She caught Taylor by the shoulder and herded her out of the room.

“Sisu?”

“Stick-to-itiveness, guts. If you are not prepared to drive your thumb through an eye, you will not actually do so, even if you have the physical strength to accomplish this feat.”

“Oh.”

When they clattered onto the main deck Noora could see the relief on Ouellette’s face when she caught sight of Taylor. She immediately rushed over to the former captive’s side and started checking her over like a worried mother. Taylor groaned, but submitted willingly enough to the inspection. Noora had a feeling that this happened on a regular basis to Taylor after every incident onboard a ship, even if she was in no way involved with the event. While this examination occurred Winnie’s team carried several chests across the gangplank to _The Whitecaps_ , which went immediately below deck.

“Enough Caro!” Taylor eventually said, “I haven’t had a single scratch or bruise since being carried onto this ship!”

“My sincere apologies, your highness,” Ouellette said stiffly. Taylor gently squeezed her arm.

“I’ll tell my brother you’ve done everything in your power to ensure my safe return and that our pirates didn’t harm me in the slightest. After all, it’s the truth.” Taylor shrugged and then grinned. “Plus, I finally got to do some real navigating!”

“If you would ever like to do some more, and get some real experience, you are always welcome back,” Noora said.

“Absolutely not,” Ouellette glowered. With that the Canadians departed.

As soon as the ships were no longer tied together _The Whitecaps_ took off using evasive maneuvers. It was true they had met under the flag of truce and clearly neither Taylor nor Ouellette wanted to harm them, but the crew couldn’t be sure that _Les Canadiennes de Montreal_ wouldn’t attack anyway. Kidnapping royalty tended to have some nasty side effects.

Indeed, by the time they safely made port in a little place called Hartford—Noora had never heard of it before, but Julie held maps that allowed them to safely reach this American town—their ship and officers had newly minted bounties on their heads. Of course the ship and her captain had the highest bounties, as was to be expected, but the price on Noora’s head was a very respectable one as well, especially considering the fact it was her first time receiving one. She had a feeling her parting invitation to Taylor had something to do with that, which made it all the more flattering. Really the only thing she would change about it was that she wished they had used newer source material for the reference image; clearly someone had obtained her cadet photo from the Finnish navy, as she looked about fifteen on the wanted poster. Mira had hung one up in their quarters.

Since Americans in general seemed to spit upon honoring Canadian bounties, _The Whitecaps_ stuck to her shores for a time. Especially as their tale garnered them standing room only crowds in every pub where the crew never needed to pay for their drinks. However, the notoriety eventually ran its course and Julie sent them back to work again, though they did their best to avoid Canadian skies.

On one particular run to western Europe, the details of which weren’t particularly important, Mira got her hands on a backlog of Finnish newspapers during a supply run for _The Whitecaps_. They were somewhat out of date, but coverage spanned the last several months, including the crew’s burglary, and the disastrous war games with its international fallout. Of course, Noora and Mira had the read every inky word on each page. Cut off from home they would have done that in any case, but it was especially true when the paper covered their exploits. It wasn’t the most accurate account—perhaps due to national pride or else lazy reporting—as the articles suggested that Noora was in charge of The Whitecaps instead of Julie, but it was good to know what their friends and family were being told. If nothing else, she was being built up into some sort of larger than life figure; Noora just hoped that if it continued she’d eventually be a folk hero and not a children’s boogeyman.

“From the way they keep going on about me you would think I had declared war on the state and was personally gunning for the crown,” Noora grumbled. She tossed the newspaper aside, flopped backwards on her bed, and used a hand to cover her eyes. “I doubt I even want to finish reading that rag.”

“Nonsense,” Mira laughed as she carefully picked up the newspaper. There was silence for a minute as she read. “Oh my.”

“What?”

“You clearly didn’t finish the article.”

“You knew I hadn’t. What does it say?”

“Captain Mustonen is no longer a ship’s captain. He’s been relieved of duty and faces a military trial for accusations of gross incompetence for his actions in the war games. The expected outcome is that he will be stripped of his rank and drummed out of the navy. There’s even a suggestion that treason charges might be added.”

“Really?” Noora cackled, “wait, treason?”

“They’re speculating that the burglary wasn’t real—simply a cover so that he could pass sensitive information on to you without anyone catching on that he was the leak.” Mira shifted the paper. “Apparently, you’re not only a master tactician and navigator, but a traitor, a master puppeteer, and the sort of terrorist that easily bends others to her will.”

“Of course they don’t remember he’s the reason I’m no longer a decorated naval officer,” Noora snorted. “I hope they prosecute him to the full extent of the law, but he doesn’t deserve the treason charges and they won’t stick. Hiirikoski will see to that; she’ll set everyone straight on what happened. I have full faith in her.”

“Hiirikoski, eh? She’s mentioned too.”

“What does it say?” Noora eagerly asked.

“Not much, simply that Hiirikoski is acting captain of the _Sumi Roar_ until Mustonen’s trial concludes or a better replacement is found.”

“In that case no one is ever taking that ship away from her. I can think of no better captain than Jenni Hiirikoski,” Noora laughed. She patted the bed beside her. “Get in here, Miracat. I think we should celebrate.”

Mira eagerly slid into bed beside her wife. Reaching forward she gently stroked Noora’s chin. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

This was not the life either one of them had ever expected. In fact, Noora doubted anyone aboard _The Whitecaps_ had ever expected to end up as part of its crew. However, this ship had given them all a degree of freedom they would never have experienced anywhere else as they soared through the heavens. In that very moment there was no place she would rather be.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, Pasi Mustonen has been an excellent coach for the Finnish Women’s team. He simply ended up as the villain of this tale because he and Noora had enough of a personality clash she was off the team for a year. Since then, they seem to have gotten along well enough and put on a fantastic showing at the 2017 Worlds, which lead to Finland beating Canada before taking home bronze and Noora being named Best Goalie of the tournament. Then of course during the 2018 Olympics Mustonen and Räty were both key to Finland’s bronze medal victory.


End file.
